Henry Cavendish

• 1731-1810

Notable scientific studies

• Hydrogen or “inflammable air”• Density of the Earth• Electricity• The “Cavendish Experiment”

THE CAVENDISH EXPERIMENT

• Measured the force of gravity between masses

THE CAVENDISH EXPERIMENT• The gravitational attraction

between the big and little balls caused the arm to rotate

• Stopped when the torque of the twisting wire balanced the force of attraction

• By measuring the angle of the rod and knowing the torque for the wire he was able to determine the force between the pairs

• 6ft wooden rod, wire, 2 small and 2 big lead spheres

Cavendish and G

• Goal of experiment was to determine the density of Earth

• During late 1800s, scientists used his results to determine G

• His results gave a G within 1% of the currently accepted value